6/01/2010 @ 4:21PM

Fifteen Lakes Worth A Visit

Lifelong fisherman Jay Cassell, deputy editor of Field & Stream magazine, treasures lakeside vacations for the peace and tranquility only one can offer.

“There’s nothing like sitting on a cabin deck and watching the sun set over a gorgeous lake,” he says, “or getting in a canoe early in the morning and paddling off into the mist” to fish for the day’s catch.

Among his favorite locales: Maine’s Millinocket Lake, which he calls a canoer’s and hiker’s paradise, though he travels there to fish for large brook trout and rare landlocked salmon.

Another favorite: Californias Lake Tahoe. This 22-mile-long expanse has attracted visitors to its shores since the Washoe Indians first gathered there centuries ago. Today travelers can view the lake from surrounding ski slopes or hike trails that wind through the surrounding Sierra Nevada mountain range. The view is immaculate from any vantage point, and the lake is a popular destination for travelers year-round.

Like Tahoe, many of the bodies of water on Forbes’ list of lovely lakes lie in a delicate space–their beauty draws admirers, but too many tourists can diminish the unspoiled quality that made the lakes so enchanting in the first place. At Lake Clark, a pristine turquoise-blue gem in southwestern Alaska, the national park service has found a way to ensure the lake doesn’t become overrun: Far from any roadway, it is accessible primarily by small aircraft.

In compiling its list, Forbes assembled a panel of experts, including author John Gussenhoven, travel magazine editors Jay Cassel of Field & Stream and Elissa Richard of ShermansTravel Media, and National Park Service spokesperson Kathy Kupper, to select a range of tastes–from Michigan’s glacially formed Glen Lake to the moss- and mist-shrouded backwaters of Caddo Lake on the Texas-Louisiana border.

Lake Champlain, which straddles the border between Vermont and New York, is lined by lighthouses, quaint lakeside villages and a 1,300-mile network of scenic bike paths. Its shores are a source of pride to local residents who treasure the lake for its beauty as well as its expansive waters, perfect for boating, fishing and other water sports.

When John Gussenhoven, author of Crisscrossing America, biked across the U.S., his trip was punctuated by countless rivers, streams and lakes, but New Mexico’s Eagle Nest Lake and Idaho’s Cascade Lake were particular highlights. Each lake struck him differently, he says, depending on the time of day and the tone of his on-the-road spirit.

Our list also features northwestern Wyoming’s Yellowstone Lake. At nearly 8,000 feet above sea level, it is the largest high-elevation freshwater lake in North America. A volcanic eruption around 600,000 years ago created a caldera in which the lake formed. It covers 136 square miles of historic Yellowstone National Park, rife with natural geysers, hot springs and steam-emitting fumaroles, though the lake freezes over in winter. Visitors can stay at the once-rustic Old Faithful Inn, originally built in the late 19th century, with easy access to West Thumb Geyser Basin.

Editor’s Note: A version of this story was previously published on forbestraveler.com with reporting by Rob Baedecker.